It's almost like Spring is over here, and April hasn't finished yet. One section of my run takes me past a long line of cherry trees, and they've been in blossom for the past couple of weeks. It's been a lovely sight, especially when I catch them in the morning sun. This week though, especially Wednesday and Friday, the trees have been ditching the blossom and, as it's been a wetter week here, the petals have been drifting together to make little pools to drench the unwary runner's shoes.
I was only unwary once though.
On Monday, having had two full weeks of running at 30 minutes, I added on an extra 5 minutes, taking the route of "run for longer" rather than "run faster" which certainly seems the best advice at the moment. I'm getting pretty good now at guessing the target distance and then finding a new combination of side roads on map-my-run, so when Mr Garmin's alarm goes off when I reach target, I'm no more than 200 yards from my front door.
The run came in at 3.9 miles, so Wednesday and Friday, I just set Mr Garmin to alarm at 4 miles, to make it a nice round number. All the runs went fine, even the one with the wet foot, but my legs have been telling me to definitely take the weekend off.
I started wearing my heart rate monitor again on Monday, just so that I could start to record my heart rates again for future reference. It's not the cleverest of devices, but it gives me my peak rate and average for the run, which is OK for now.
Training for the week:
Mon: 3.90 miles, 35 minutes 8:59 pace. 11C (rain) HRAve:153 HRMax:170
Wed: 4.01miles, 35:41 minutes 8:54 pace. 11C HRAve:150 HRMax:168
Fri: 4.00 miles, 36:46 minutes 9:12 pace. 11C HRAve:147 HRMax:169
At the moment, I'm planning on just repeating 3 x 4 miles next week, but I probably need to start thinking about mixing it up with longer, slow runs. I have some reading material on this, and might start pushing up my Wednesday mileage, whilst using Monday and Friday to work on other things.
On the home front, I'm just about to change jobs, albeit within the same company, and disengage from a rut I've stayed in far too long. This shouldn't affect my running, although I do expect more travel to London. I'll just have to pick my hotels so I can run through Hyde Park or up The Mall for a nice change of scenery.
It also looks like we've finally got a school sorted out for my son next year. This has been a big source of anguish for us over the past year as getting the right placement for a very bright autistic boy in the face of budget cuts at the city council has been very difficult. My youngest daughter has been off nursery school with a bit of a fever for the latter half of the week, hopefully we'll see a bit of improvement tomorrow. My eldest daughter got a new Yamaha keyboard this week as an early birthday present and between gymnastics, trampolining and homework has been practicing away on it. I did give her some headphones so she doesn't keep us awake though ;).
Finally, today, 28th April, is my blogiversary. And my Runiversary, a whole year since I started out pounding the pavements. Here's to the next one then!
All the best.
Mr Stumble.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Looking ahead.
It's been a weekend of review and goal-thinking-about. The first review item is that last week, mainly due to my mad Wednesday dash, I topped 10 miles for the week for the first time. This is something I intend to build upon, mainly by adding run time and extending my loop somewhere - I don't quite know where yet though.
Secondly, I checked my resting heart rate on Friday afternoon and was pleasantly surprised at a nice low 58 beats per minute. I don't think it's ever been that low before, having sat between 68 and 72 for some years now.
As far as goals go, I'm trying to find a suitable 5K to run in the next month. This will mean some family logistical problems as weekends are packed with all manner of swimming, dance and theatre classes for the kids which I don't really want to interfere with. I can see, though, a 10K possibility on 16th June. This is the 2007 Stourbridge Stumble ("Stour" rhyming with "ow" - as in I hurt my head) the race for which I selected my moniker nearly a year ago.
From where I sit now, it's 8 weeks away and there are plenty of 4 and 8 week preparation plans out there to adapt. I've been looking at a couple of plans on Runnersworld.co.uk to give me some idea of what I need to do. This has meant that I actually need to understand what "strides" are and what Fartlek really means so I can decide whether or not they are going to be suitable.
Don't worry, I'm not about to go try some mad speedwork before I've worked more on my endurance and made sure that my ankles are up to it. However, it doesn't hurt to find out. I'll also be finding out a bit more about how understanding heart-rate can help me train. Again runnersworld tells me to find my maximum heart rate as follows:
As for Friday just gone, I had a reasonably good run and found my average pace was just under 9:00, a bit faster than I was aiming for. It was significantly easier the Wednesday though.
Fri: 3.40 miles, 30:14 minutes 8:54 pace. 5C
=================
On a non-running topic, my CISSP exam results from April 1st (it wasn't an April Fools trick!) came through, and I passed. I don't get any more detail than that - they just tell you pass of fail, but it's such a relief that I don't have to study and do the whole lot again.
All the best.
Mr Stumble.
Secondly, I checked my resting heart rate on Friday afternoon and was pleasantly surprised at a nice low 58 beats per minute. I don't think it's ever been that low before, having sat between 68 and 72 for some years now.
As far as goals go, I'm trying to find a suitable 5K to run in the next month. This will mean some family logistical problems as weekends are packed with all manner of swimming, dance and theatre classes for the kids which I don't really want to interfere with. I can see, though, a 10K possibility on 16th June. This is the 2007 Stourbridge Stumble ("Stour" rhyming with "ow" - as in I hurt my head) the race for which I selected my moniker nearly a year ago.
From where I sit now, it's 8 weeks away and there are plenty of 4 and 8 week preparation plans out there to adapt. I've been looking at a couple of plans on Runnersworld.co.uk to give me some idea of what I need to do. This has meant that I actually need to understand what "strides" are and what Fartlek really means so I can decide whether or not they are going to be suitable.
Don't worry, I'm not about to go try some mad speedwork before I've worked more on my endurance and made sure that my ankles are up to it. However, it doesn't hurt to find out. I'll also be finding out a bit more about how understanding heart-rate can help me train. Again runnersworld tells me to find my maximum heart rate as follows:
"Do this by warming up, then running as fast as you can evenly for three minutes (ideally on a treadmill), then resting with two or three minutes gentle running, then repeating your three minute maximal run. During your second run you should get a higher maximum heart rate than with any other method - though use your heart rate monitor to take readings throughout it, as your heart rate may peak before the end."I may try this in the next 2 weeks, which should then help me know what easy, medium and hard training heart rates should be.
As for Friday just gone, I had a reasonably good run and found my average pace was just under 9:00, a bit faster than I was aiming for. It was significantly easier the Wednesday though.
Fri: 3.40 miles, 30:14 minutes 8:54 pace. 5C
=================
On a non-running topic, my CISSP exam results from April 1st (it wasn't an April Fools trick!) came through, and I passed. I don't get any more detail than that - they just tell you pass of fail, but it's such a relief that I don't have to study and do the whole lot again.
All the best.
Mr Stumble.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Head boiled again
It was Monday-Legs again at the start of the week and I battled on through to get in just over 5K in 30 minutes. This despite the fact that the temperature was up to 10C and quite pleasant I just felt - yuk.
Today though, was somewhat different. I've found generally that I can't tell how a run is going to go until I'm about half a mile down the road. Today, I was half a mile down the road and thinking about a 5K race I may enter in about a month's time. And then I was wondering what sort of PR I might set - it being my first race and not having a PR yet. And then I was thinking that I would need to know what my race pace should be before the race. And then I looked at Mr Garmin who told me I was running at around an 8 minute mile pace.
So, I was feeling pretty good and decided I would try to maintain a faster pace for as long as I could and see what happens. The way I began measuring the effort was the feeling of resistance I was getting in my quads, something akin to wading through water, except very "thin" water. I used this and a steady breathing rate to try to maintain a steady pace and just kept giving it a bit more gas.
At the 3 mile mark, I knew I was well ahead of my normal pace and was wondering where I would end up running to, as I would have to walk back. I was also feeling a little nauseous having completed the main 400 yard incline section in my otherwise flattish circuit. The main problem I was having here - and sorry if this is a bit gross - is that I was building up a load of phlegm at the back of my throat and, well, I'm not a spitter. So this had only one place to go and my stomach just wasn't liking it.
I could also feel my heart rate was probably close to my HRMax, though I had no good means to record it. This lasted for a couple of hundred yards and I was back to a more comfortable throat and heart as I passed 5K and my usual finishing point.
I completed the run having covered 3.6 miles in 30 minutes at an average pace of 8:22. Nothing mechanical broke. My head looked like it had been boiled, which is probably a good indication of effort - I haven't had a boiled head for months now. This might show that my normal speed, which I've been keeping down to spare the ankles is not really fast enough for a good workout, but 8:22 is too fast at the moment. It's nice to know it can be done though.
So, having done this, I arrive home to find in my mailbox 2 pieces of advice which advise me to do something entirely different. Firstly Phil (thank you!) suggesting I run 30 minutes more frequently in the week and add some lower effort workouts to make a total of 5 sessions.
Secondly, from Runner's World who drop me an email every week or so with links to some wise words for beginners. One of their 35 training principles for beginners is:
"#3 Go farther, not harder Once you reach the magic 20-minute mark, build up to 30 minutes (then 40, 50 and 60). Don’t make the mistake of trying to get faster – don’t try to run your 20-minute course in 19 minutes. Increasing endurance is your first priority. "
So I think the message is clear. This morning's push for speed might have been fun to try, but it's not going to be any good for me to continue right now. I might look to increase my pace slightly as I know I can sustain it, but not currently to anything faster the 9:00, probably more like 9:10. Instead, I need to increase my workout frequency, thus increasing my weekly mileage and perhaps then increase the time I spend out there on each run. But, keep the 10% per week rule in mind.
Training so far this week:
Mon: 3.11 miles, 30 minutes 9:39 pace. 10C
Wed: 3.60 miles, 30 minutes 8:22 pace. 5C
All the best.
Mr Stumble.
Today though, was somewhat different. I've found generally that I can't tell how a run is going to go until I'm about half a mile down the road. Today, I was half a mile down the road and thinking about a 5K race I may enter in about a month's time. And then I was wondering what sort of PR I might set - it being my first race and not having a PR yet. And then I was thinking that I would need to know what my race pace should be before the race. And then I looked at Mr Garmin who told me I was running at around an 8 minute mile pace.
So, I was feeling pretty good and decided I would try to maintain a faster pace for as long as I could and see what happens. The way I began measuring the effort was the feeling of resistance I was getting in my quads, something akin to wading through water, except very "thin" water. I used this and a steady breathing rate to try to maintain a steady pace and just kept giving it a bit more gas.
At the 3 mile mark, I knew I was well ahead of my normal pace and was wondering where I would end up running to, as I would have to walk back. I was also feeling a little nauseous having completed the main 400 yard incline section in my otherwise flattish circuit. The main problem I was having here - and sorry if this is a bit gross - is that I was building up a load of phlegm at the back of my throat and, well, I'm not a spitter. So this had only one place to go and my stomach just wasn't liking it.
I could also feel my heart rate was probably close to my HRMax, though I had no good means to record it. This lasted for a couple of hundred yards and I was back to a more comfortable throat and heart as I passed 5K and my usual finishing point.
I completed the run having covered 3.6 miles in 30 minutes at an average pace of 8:22. Nothing mechanical broke. My head looked like it had been boiled, which is probably a good indication of effort - I haven't had a boiled head for months now. This might show that my normal speed, which I've been keeping down to spare the ankles is not really fast enough for a good workout, but 8:22 is too fast at the moment. It's nice to know it can be done though.
So, having done this, I arrive home to find in my mailbox 2 pieces of advice which advise me to do something entirely different. Firstly Phil (thank you!) suggesting I run 30 minutes more frequently in the week and add some lower effort workouts to make a total of 5 sessions.
Secondly, from Runner's World who drop me an email every week or so with links to some wise words for beginners. One of their 35 training principles for beginners is:
"#3 Go farther, not harder Once you reach the magic 20-minute mark, build up to 30 minutes (then 40, 50 and 60). Don’t make the mistake of trying to get faster – don’t try to run your 20-minute course in 19 minutes. Increasing endurance is your first priority. "
So I think the message is clear. This morning's push for speed might have been fun to try, but it's not going to be any good for me to continue right now. I might look to increase my pace slightly as I know I can sustain it, but not currently to anything faster the 9:00, probably more like 9:10. Instead, I need to increase my workout frequency, thus increasing my weekly mileage and perhaps then increase the time I spend out there on each run. But, keep the 10% per week rule in mind.
Training so far this week:
Mon: 3.11 miles, 30 minutes 9:39 pace. 10C
Wed: 3.60 miles, 30 minutes 8:22 pace. 5C
All the best.
Mr Stumble.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
A non-stop week
The weather in the UK this week has been extremely good, which is unusual in two ways. Firstly it's April and usually it rains. Secondly, it's a school holiday and usually it rains. I've worked only two days this week, burning some of my admittedly pretty good vacation package which has left plenty of time for more escapades to keep the kids out of trouble.
On Wednesday, we were back at the Wrekin, introducing some friends to the hill which they hadn't managed to get to despite living in the area for 7 or 8 years. So another ice-cream fuelled climb after which my knees started complaining, mainly because of the descent. Here are a couple of shots from the top, firstly the toposcope:
And my eldest daughter resting at the trig point ...
On Thursday, we went up into Cheshire to visit Beeston Castle which the kids always love, especially as there is a farm nearby which makes it's own ice-cream in loads of flavours, which is a nice treat. Mine was apple pie and custard. Mmm.
This was a shoddy photo I took of the castle from the ice-cream farm.
It was a bit hazy.
After this we drove to the Delamere forest, which I'd never been to before, to see what it's like. It turned out to be a very pleasant place for a nice gentle walk in the woods.
Meanwhile, on the running front, things have been steady and good. Wednesday and Friday were both repeats of Mondays 30 minutes non-stop, and with no real problems - my ankle grumbled a bit, but only for an hour or two, so I'm hopeful that this is going to be a good base from which to move on from.
What to do next, I'm yet to decide and could still do with a nudge towards either longer distances or improving pace. Or whatever. Advice would be gratefully received!
Wed: 3.22 miles, 30 minutes 9:20 pace. 4C
Fri: 3.20 miles, 30 minutes 9:23 pace. 7C (back in shorts again!!)
All the best.
Mr Stumble.
On Wednesday, we were back at the Wrekin, introducing some friends to the hill which they hadn't managed to get to despite living in the area for 7 or 8 years. So another ice-cream fuelled climb after which my knees started complaining, mainly because of the descent. Here are a couple of shots from the top, firstly the toposcope:
And my eldest daughter resting at the trig point ...
On Thursday, we went up into Cheshire to visit Beeston Castle which the kids always love, especially as there is a farm nearby which makes it's own ice-cream in loads of flavours, which is a nice treat. Mine was apple pie and custard. Mmm.
This was a shoddy photo I took of the castle from the ice-cream farm.
It was a bit hazy.
After this we drove to the Delamere forest, which I'd never been to before, to see what it's like. It turned out to be a very pleasant place for a nice gentle walk in the woods.
Meanwhile, on the running front, things have been steady and good. Wednesday and Friday were both repeats of Mondays 30 minutes non-stop, and with no real problems - my ankle grumbled a bit, but only for an hour or two, so I'm hopeful that this is going to be a good base from which to move on from.
What to do next, I'm yet to decide and could still do with a nudge towards either longer distances or improving pace. Or whatever. Advice would be gratefully received!
Wed: 3.22 miles, 30 minutes 9:20 pace. 4C
Fri: 3.20 miles, 30 minutes 9:23 pace. 7C (back in shorts again!!)
All the best.
Mr Stumble.
Monday, April 09, 2007
*** 30:0 ***
It's what we call a Bank Holiday today, essentially a day off for everyone, unless you work in a DIY / home improvement store or any place selling garden plants and ornaments.
Thankfully, I don't work in either, so have planned today to continue our spring odyssey around the local hills with a visit to the Clent Hills, South of Birmingham. But before any of that, there was the small matter of 3 miles to get in first.
So with the nation taking a lie-in I stood outside the house at 7:15 busily programming Mr Garmin in a totally new way. No more of these run walk intervals, I want automatic 1 mile lap pacing and a 30 minute "your done" alarm. Caution? Wind? Pah!
It may have been a beautifully bright morning, but the fog remaining in my head made this task a bit longer than expected. However, I hit the road after this minor delay and just kept going, keeping the pace as controlled as I could as I followed the flatter course I've been using for the past few weeks.
There was a little discomfort towards the end in the old plantar fascia, but I don't think any damage has been done. I'll use a bit of ice over the next 2 days as I need it.
However, the deed is done. Only 346 days to complete my C25K. At this rate, I'll be ready for a Marathon in about 8 more years. Actually, that suddenly looks optimistic when I look at it.
Of course, what this means is that the goal is met. I will shortly need a new one, although I plan for the moment to establish this 30 minutes as a base for a week or two, before adding anything further or trying to improve my pace. My guess is a little more distance is the better approach, but I wouldn't mind some advice on this.
Mon: 3.09 miles, 30 minutes 9:45 pace. 4C
At this point, I think I need to thank Thomas for giving me a kick up the arse. You were right, and I needed it
Following this momentus occasion, the family headed off to the Clent Hills where we had a pleasant walk around the paths, which were quite busy as they were running an Easter egg hunt. From the viewing point (the big blue starry thing in the middle of the map linked above) I took this photo looking North West towards The Wrekin, where we were a couple of days ago. You can just make it out on the horizon in the photo,
It's there, hazily merging into the clouds just right of centre, on the horizon. We could also see the Long Mynd further West, The Clee Hills (a future expedition) South West and the Malverns to the South.
If you do plan on coming to the UK and seeing the countryside (or perhaps you are already here!), there is a mapping service which allows you to view and print small sections of detailed maps so you can plan routes ahead. The service is at Ordnance Survey and is called Get-a-map. Very useful. This is the one I used today, starting in the car park by "Nimmings Plantation"
All the best.
Mr Stumble.
Thankfully, I don't work in either, so have planned today to continue our spring odyssey around the local hills with a visit to the Clent Hills, South of Birmingham. But before any of that, there was the small matter of 3 miles to get in first.
So with the nation taking a lie-in I stood outside the house at 7:15 busily programming Mr Garmin in a totally new way. No more of these run walk intervals, I want automatic 1 mile lap pacing and a 30 minute "your done" alarm. Caution? Wind? Pah!
It may have been a beautifully bright morning, but the fog remaining in my head made this task a bit longer than expected. However, I hit the road after this minor delay and just kept going, keeping the pace as controlled as I could as I followed the flatter course I've been using for the past few weeks.
There was a little discomfort towards the end in the old plantar fascia, but I don't think any damage has been done. I'll use a bit of ice over the next 2 days as I need it.
However, the deed is done. Only 346 days to complete my C25K. At this rate, I'll be ready for a Marathon in about 8 more years. Actually, that suddenly looks optimistic when I look at it.
Of course, what this means is that the goal is met. I will shortly need a new one, although I plan for the moment to establish this 30 minutes as a base for a week or two, before adding anything further or trying to improve my pace. My guess is a little more distance is the better approach, but I wouldn't mind some advice on this.
Mon: 3.09 miles, 30 minutes 9:45 pace. 4C
At this point, I think I need to thank Thomas for giving me a kick up the arse. You were right, and I needed it
Following this momentus occasion, the family headed off to the Clent Hills where we had a pleasant walk around the paths, which were quite busy as they were running an Easter egg hunt. From the viewing point (the big blue starry thing in the middle of the map linked above) I took this photo looking North West towards The Wrekin, where we were a couple of days ago. You can just make it out on the horizon in the photo,
It's there, hazily merging into the clouds just right of centre, on the horizon. We could also see the Long Mynd further West, The Clee Hills (a future expedition) South West and the Malverns to the South.
If you do plan on coming to the UK and seeing the countryside (or perhaps you are already here!), there is a mapping service which allows you to view and print small sections of detailed maps so you can plan routes ahead. The service is at Ordnance Survey and is called Get-a-map. Very useful. This is the one I used today, starting in the car park by "Nimmings Plantation"
All the best.
Mr Stumble.
Saturday, April 07, 2007
Shropshire hills
School holidays are upon us here and the kids are already a week into their Easter habit of driving D mad. I've taken a little time off to ease the burdon a little, so yesterday we all piled into the car and headed for a little adventure, in the Shropshire hills. Target on Thursday was the Stiperstones (sty - per - stones) which I haven't been to for for a very long time.
Stiperstones is part of the Shropshire Way walking route but we were only planning a small incursion to determine the lay of the land and consume a picnic.
It was a beautiful sunny day, hazy in the distance but glorious all the same.
Here we have part of the ascent, my son taking the lead....
Manstone rock .....
... and my son atop said rock ...
Stiperstones has an incredibly rough and stony trail, so after lunch, we abandoned and went across to the Long Mynd, to the East. This is a long ridge, stretched out North-South-ish and home to the Midlands gliding club, with both fixed wing gliders ...
.. and parascenders ....
... and some cracking countryside ...
... that being the lovely town of Much Wenlock in the background.
As you may have noticed, I took the opportunity to update my own blogger photo too.
This morning, I got in a further 3.1 miles, moving forward to run 25, walk 1, run 5. So I'm very nearly there. I'll see how I feel on Monday as to whether I dispense with the walk this end of the week. Having got this run in, I then took the kids off to the Wrekin in the afternoon. The Wrekin is a local hill from which our local telly signals are broadcast. It's a 977 foot climb from the car park and my four year old daughter walked from bottom to top assisted only by a Smarties ice-cream half way up. Amazing. She's such a tough kid for someone so small.
Training
========
Fri: 3.10 miles, 30 minutes, 25,5:1 run:walk 9:42 pace. 5C
All the best.
Mr Stumble
Stiperstones is part of the Shropshire Way walking route but we were only planning a small incursion to determine the lay of the land and consume a picnic.
It was a beautiful sunny day, hazy in the distance but glorious all the same.
Here we have part of the ascent, my son taking the lead....
Manstone rock .....
... and my son atop said rock ...
Stiperstones has an incredibly rough and stony trail, so after lunch, we abandoned and went across to the Long Mynd, to the East. This is a long ridge, stretched out North-South-ish and home to the Midlands gliding club, with both fixed wing gliders ...
.. and parascenders ....
... and some cracking countryside ...
... that being the lovely town of Much Wenlock in the background.
As you may have noticed, I took the opportunity to update my own blogger photo too.
This morning, I got in a further 3.1 miles, moving forward to run 25, walk 1, run 5. So I'm very nearly there. I'll see how I feel on Monday as to whether I dispense with the walk this end of the week. Having got this run in, I then took the kids off to the Wrekin in the afternoon. The Wrekin is a local hill from which our local telly signals are broadcast. It's a 977 foot climb from the car park and my four year old daughter walked from bottom to top assisted only by a Smarties ice-cream half way up. Amazing. She's such a tough kid for someone so small.
Training
========
Fri: 3.10 miles, 30 minutes, 25,5:1 run:walk 9:42 pace. 5C
All the best.
Mr Stumble
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Getting closer.
I'd forgotten just how horrible exams are you know. While Thomas spent 5 hours 40 minutes running an ultra, I spent a roughly equivalent amount of time hacking through 250 multiple guess questions in a CISSP exam in Oxfordshire. Despite a pleasant night's sleep in a local hostelry and a hearty full English breakfast to fuel me up, an hour in, I was suffering brain fade already trying to recall minutia of ISO17799, TCSEC standards, elliptic curve cryptography and what types of fire extinguishers to use on a petroleum fire. That'd be Class B then. Foam, gas, CO2, powder.
However, there were no moments when I wished I was trying to run that Ultra instead. No no no no no no. At least a can still walk after an exam!
Results are probably 4 weeks away, so I may mention them in May some time.
Studying has taken a lot of my time in the evenings over the past month and I know with my head buzzing with factoids, sleep has been a bit of an issue and might have been the cause of my Monday legs. This Monday was much improved on the previous two and the 15,15:1 run:walk was no real problem. This might also have been assisted by my new improved stretching regime. This consists of stretching for about 4 minutes rather than the one or so I've been doing previously - I have been lax.
Monday went so well that I've kept with my rash increases in running time and ran 20,10:1 this morning with no apparent ill effects. My ankle feel exactly the same as at 11 and 15 minutes, which is a little stiff and with the slightest of warning aches, but no more.
So, at this point, I have 24 days to complete my full C25K target within one year of starting out. This might actually be some sort of record, I don't know. But given 8 planned runs between now and then this should not be difficult and I might actually do it in one of the next 4 runs.
What I have certainly achieved now is running continuously for the longest I ever had. Once I get to the 5KAIO (5K all in one), I'm certainly planning to establish that as a base and start to increase as best I can.
Mon: 3.17 miles, 30 minutes, 15,15:1 run:walk 9:28 pace. 4C
Wed: 3.21 miles, 30 minutes, 20,10:1 run:walk 9:22 pace. 4C (garmin a bit suspicious today)
All the best,
Mr Stumble.
However, there were no moments when I wished I was trying to run that Ultra instead. No no no no no no. At least a can still walk after an exam!
Results are probably 4 weeks away, so I may mention them in May some time.
Studying has taken a lot of my time in the evenings over the past month and I know with my head buzzing with factoids, sleep has been a bit of an issue and might have been the cause of my Monday legs. This Monday was much improved on the previous two and the 15,15:1 run:walk was no real problem. This might also have been assisted by my new improved stretching regime. This consists of stretching for about 4 minutes rather than the one or so I've been doing previously - I have been lax.
Monday went so well that I've kept with my rash increases in running time and ran 20,10:1 this morning with no apparent ill effects. My ankle feel exactly the same as at 11 and 15 minutes, which is a little stiff and with the slightest of warning aches, but no more.
So, at this point, I have 24 days to complete my full C25K target within one year of starting out. This might actually be some sort of record, I don't know. But given 8 planned runs between now and then this should not be difficult and I might actually do it in one of the next 4 runs.
What I have certainly achieved now is running continuously for the longest I ever had. Once I get to the 5KAIO (5K all in one), I'm certainly planning to establish that as a base and start to increase as best I can.
Mon: 3.17 miles, 30 minutes, 15,15:1 run:walk 9:28 pace. 4C
Wed: 3.21 miles, 30 minutes, 20,10:1 run:walk 9:22 pace. 4C (garmin a bit suspicious today)
All the best,
Mr Stumble.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
